192 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



gathered up between them the ordinary coil of silk thread. Then she 

 st ret el led foi'ward the two fore legs upon one side of her body and grasped 

 the traplinc just in front of her face, and bent the other two fore pairs of 

 legs around toward the l)all within which the insect was swathed and 

 which was held well elevated within the mouth. The two bent fore legs 

 evidently assisted in manipulating the food while the spider made a meal. 

 This seemed as odd a posture as that assumed during the swathing of the 

 fly. (See Fig. 185.) 



When the snare has been sprung and the spider wishes to tighten it, 

 she does so by apparently first drawing upon the trapline with the fore 

 feet, accomplishing the movement after the manner of Epeiroids 

 ^^® °^ by placing one claw before the other, as a sailor ascends a rope 

 ^ ^^ ■ hand over hand. At the same time, or immediately thereafter, 

 she executes a similar movement with the two hind feet, only reversing 

 the direction. It should be said that during the process of snapping the 

 net, the hind pair of feet hold to the trapline and never let go until the 

 spider abandons her position to visit the snare in search of prey. The 

 third pair are also held in position, so that when the hind feet begin to 



pull backward, shoving hand over 

 hand, so to speak, under the trapline 

 towards the point of attachment, an 



_ ^^^ amount of slack is formed between 



t m rt^^^'!^v|px these feet and those of the third 



/|| ^'^k.X^^f^^'^ P^ir, which very soon rolls up into 



the coil of slack line which has just 

 been described. It is thus quite pre- 



FiG. 185. Hyptiotes eating an insect. . „ , 



pared for another spruig oi the snare. 



I have observed the same peculiar use of the hind legs wlien Ihe 

 spider had occasion to raise herseK from beneath upwards. Epeiroids 

 ascend a dropline head uppermost, pulling themselves hand over 

 Backing \^n^J-^^\^ and allowing a coil of thread to accumulate between the 

 ^^ * ^ palps and the jaws. Hyptiotes, instead of turning and ascend- 

 ing head foremost, mounts tail foremost, keeping her claws attached to 

 the trapline and drawing herself up hand over hand, following the method 

 by which she draws herself backward in order to tighten her snare. It 

 presents a very odd appearance to see her ascending a dropline in this 

 position, literally "backing" up it, although one is not so much struck 

 with the oddity of it when he sees her recovering after snapping her 

 snare. 



The Triangle spider lias the habit of violently oscillating her web, 

 just as do many of the Orbweavers ; that is to say, she not only draws 

 it back and forward by snapping her trapline, but shakes it up and 

 down or to and fro. 



According to Professor Thorell, tlie males of Hyptiotes are extremely 



